……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Press Release
Meeting of the Council of Ministers on October 19th, 2022
The Council of Ministers met, at the Government Palace, in Dili, and approved two draft Proposals of National Parliament Resolutions, presented by the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Julião da Silva, and by the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Social Solidarity and Inclusion, Armanda Berta dos Santos, for the approval of the Multilateral Convention on Social Security of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP – Portuguese acronym) and the Convention between the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and the Portuguese Republic on Social Security, signed on June 28th, 2022.
l The CPLP Multilateral Convention on Social Security is an international agreement that aims to protect workers from each of the signatory countries working abroad, allowing the time worked to be reckoned, regardless of the country where the worker has worked during his working life, to avoid the loss of time in the contributory career and also to benefit the reckoning for the guarantee periods for access to social benefits covered by the Convention (protection in invalidity, old age and death).
l The Convention between the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and the Portuguese Republic on Social Security covers all workers and nationals of both countries, includes the contributory and non-contributory social security regimes, and has two main objectives: on the one hand, the aggregation of the contributory periods completed in the two countries, allowing the “summing up” of the working time and social security discounts in both countries, for compliance with the guarantee periods for access to social benefits of the contributory regimes; on the other hand, to ensure equal treatment between the citizens of both countries, allowing citizens of one country residing in the other country to benefit the same rights and be subject to the same obligations as the nationals of that country of residence.
…..
Also approved was the draft Decree-Law, presented by the Prime Minister’s Office, on the protection measures for Timorese citizens abroad.
This draft decree-law foresees a set of five measures for the protection of Timorese citizens abroad and defines the rules for its attribution:
1. Providing relief in the event of a natural disaster or serious public order disturbance;
2. Repatriation of Timorese abroad;
3. Emergency support for accommodation;
4. Emergency food support;
5. Support in cases of arrest or detention.
….
The Council of Ministers analysed the political-legislative options underlying the initiative to amend the Decree-Law that created the National Agency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (ANAPMA – Portuguese acronym).
This legislative initiative aims to eliminate the restriction of only three directorates, so that new structures can be established for Technical Coordination, for the development and implementation of an integrated information system for planning, monitoring and evaluation, and for internal auditing.
….
The political-legislative options underlying the initiative to amend the Decree-Law that created the National Intelligence Service (SNI – Portuguese Acronym) were also analysed, to review and improve the powers of this institution and introduce changes to its organizational structure.
….
The Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Fidelis Manuel Leite Magalhães, presented the state of execution of the 2022 Government’s Legislative Plan. The legislative plan was approved by the Council of Ministers in its meeting on March 23rd, having been prepared based on proposals submitted by members of the Council of Ministers. The Plan consists of a forecast of the Government’s legislative interventions and respective priorities, divided by sectors, for the year 2022.
….
Lastly, the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Joaquim Amaral, and the Secretary of State for the Environment, Demetrio do Amaral de Carvalho, gave a presentation on the draft revision of the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) for the period 2022-2030, with the objective of global reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The Intended Nationally Determined Contribution has been reformulated around four main areas of commitment:
1. Climate Risk Governance;
2. Growth and Nature-Positive Transition;
3. Low-carbon development;
4. Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Building. END